System and Method for Transferring Data

ABSTRACT

A system and a method transmit data in a first codec from a first terminal to a second terminal. The first terminal establishes a connection with the second terminal and/or transmits, transfers and/or sends the data to the second terminal via the connection between the first terminal and the second terminal. The connection between the first terminal and the second terminal has a first channel and/or a second channel to transmit the data from the first terminal to the second terminal. The first terminal transmits the data in a first codec to the second terminal via the first channel and/or the second channel of the connection without receiving capabilities of and/or intentions from the second terminal. The second terminal may be incapable of receiving, of processing, of accepting and/or of displaying the data in the first codec. The capabilities of and/or the intentions from the second terminal is transmitted to the first terminal via the connection. The first terminal switches the data from the first codec to the second codec and/or transmits the data in the second codec to the second terminal via the connection between the first terminal and the second terminal.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation application of U.S. Non-Provisionalapplication Ser. No. 11/483,036 filed Jul. 7, 2006 which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/698,107 filed Jul.11, 2005.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a system and a method fortransferring data. More specifically, the present invention relates to asystem and a method for transferring data from a first terminal to asecond terminal. The data may be transferred from the first terminal tothe second terminal after a connection between the first terminal andthe second terminal may be established. The first terminal may transferand/or may transmit the data in a first codec to the second terminalwithout an exchange of capabilities and/or intents of the first terminaland the second terminal. The capabilities of the second terminal may notsupport, may not process and/or may not accept the data in the firstcodec. The exchange of capabilities and/or intents of the first terminaland the second terminal may be transferred and/or may be transmittedbetween the first terminal and the second terminal.

The first terminal may transfer and/or may transmit the data in a secondcodec to the second terminal based upon the exchange of capabilities andintents of the first terminal and/or the second terminal. The data inthe second codec which may be supported, may be processed, may beaccepted and/or may be displayed by the second terminal. As a result,the system and the method may establish a call setup between the firstterminal and the second terminal to transfer data in a first codecand/or a second codec.

It is generally known, for example, that mobile devices, such as, forexample, a first terminal and a second terminal may conduct a videoconference to communicate and/or to transmit multimedia or other databetween the first terminal and the second terminal via 3G-324M standardprotocol. Such data may consist of audio, video, and/or other datatypes. Traditionally, the 3G-324M protocol enabled mobile device, maybe, for example, a 3G mobile telephone, personal digital assistant(hereinafter “PDA”), laptop computer and/or the like. The first terminalmay transmit data in one or more of several possible codec formats to asecond terminal during the video conference. Prior to transmitting thedata from the first terminal to the second terminal, a first messagemust be exchanged between the first terminal and the second terminal.The first message is a terminal capability set (hereinafter “TCS”)message which is sent from the second terminal to the first terminal.The TCS message identifies a version of a control protocol, such as, forexample, H.245 which is used by the second terminal and/or capabilitiesof the second terminal. The first terminal determines the version of thecontrol protocol and/or the capabilities of the second terminal from theTCS message. As a result, the first terminal determines which codec orcodecs to use when transmitting data to the second terminal.

A second message must also be exchanged between the first terminal andthe second terminal prior to the transmission of the data from the firstterminal to the second terminal. The second message may be amaster/slave determination (hereinafter “MSD”) message which istransmitted from the second terminal to the first terminal. Informationfrom this second message may be used as part of the subsequent channelnegotiation to determine which codec or codecs will be used to transmitdata from the first terminal to the second terminal. A transmissionchannel, such as, for example, an open logical channel (hereinafter“OLC”) is established between the first terminal and the second terminalafter the first terminal receives and/or processes the first message andthe second message. As a result, the data in the first codec or in thesecond codec may be transmitted from the first terminal to the secondterminal via the transmission channel using codecs which are acceptableto the second terminal.

However, the first terminal will not transmit the data to the secondterminal without receiving the first message and the second message fromthe second terminal. Still further, the transmission channel between thefirst terminal and the second terminal will not be established until thefirst terminal receives, accepts and/or processes the first message andthe second message from the second terminal. Moreover, a duration of asetup time to complete transmission of the data from the first terminalto the second terminal is extended by and/or based on durations of timesfor transmitting the first message and the second message from thesecond terminal to the first terminal and/or for negotiating andestablishing specific transmission channels between the first terminaland the second terminal. The initial exchange of capabilities andintents used commonly in such terminals may result in a lengthy callsetup period before multimedia and other valuable data may be exchanged.

It may be possible to compress the capabilities, preferences and intentsof terminals 12 a and 12 b such that they are exchanged betweenterminals 12 a and 12 b in a single message or in a series of pipelinedmessages which do not require interaction or acknowledgment from theremote side. In such a case, the duration of time before media may beexchanged between terminals 12 a and 12 b will depend on the timerequired to convey such messages between the terminals. Such messagesare typically delivered in a reliable fashion, and so any adversechannel conditions or channel errors may extend the delivery time and soresult in a lengthy delay before multimedia or other valuable data maybe exchanged.

A need, therefore, exists for a system and a method for transmittingdata from the first terminal to the second terminal without waiting forthe initial exchange of capabilities and intents. Further, a need existsfor a system and a method for transmitting data from the first terminalto the second terminal which minimizes the time expended before suchvaluable data may be transmitted and received.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a system and a method for transmittingdata. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and amethod for transmitting data between a first terminal and a secondterminal. The first terminal may transmit, may transfer and/or may sendthe data to the second terminal upon establishment of a connectionbetween the first terminal and the second terminal. The connectionbetween the first terminal and the second terminal may have one or morechannels for transmitting the data from the first terminal to the secondterminal. The first terminal may transmit the data to the secondterminal via these channels without receiving capabilities of and/orintentions from the second terminal. For each relevant data type, afirst codec may be chosen with which to transmit the data on a firstchannel. The second terminal may be capable of receiving, of processing,of accepting and/or of displaying the data in the first codec, in whichcase it may utilize the data immediately upon receiving it. Alternately,the second terminal may be incapable of receiving, of processing, ofaccepting and/or of displaying the data in the first codec. Upondiscovering this, the first terminal may switch the outgoing datatransmission from the first codec to a second codec of which the secondterminal receives, processes, accepting and displays the data. The firstterminal may then transmit the data in the second codec to the secondterminal via a second channel on connection between the first terminaland the second terminal.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a system for transmittingdata wherein the data is audio signals, video signals and/or other datasignals is provided. The system has a network which transmits the datawherein the network is wireless and a first terminal connected to thenetwork wherein the first terminal receives and transmits the data viathe network. Further, the system has a second terminal connected to thenetwork wherein the second terminal communicates with the first terminalvia the network wherein the second terminal is located remotely withrespect to the first terminal. Still further, the system has a digitaltable accessible by the first terminal wherein the digital table ispredefined with a plurality of codecs wherein a first codec and a secondcodec are identified by the first terminal from the plurality of codecsin the digital table wherein a number is assigned to each codec of theplurality of codecs wherein a number assigned to the first codec isdifferent than a number assigned to the second codec. Moreover, thesystem has a first channel which connects the first terminal and thesecond terminal via the network wherein the first terminal transmits thedata in the first codec to the second terminal via the first channelwherein the second terminal displays the data in the first codec and/ortransmits a message to the first terminal wherein the message identifiesthe second codec which is acceptable by the second terminal.

In an embodiment, the system has a second channel established betweenthe first terminal and the second terminal wherein the data in thesecond codec is transmitted via the second channel.

In an embodiment, the system has a standard stuffing sequence connectedto the message transmitted from the second terminal wherein the firstterminal determines the second codec via the standard stuffing sequence.

In an embodiment, the system has a header connected to the messagetransmitted from the second terminal wherein the header identifies thesecond codec which is acceptable by the second terminal.

In an embodiment, the system has a third codec from the plurality ofcodecs within the digital table wherein the first terminal transmits thedata to the second terminal in the third codec.

In an embodiment, the system has a video conference between the firstterminal and the second terminal via the first channel wherein the mediadata exchanged between the terminals is displayed by the first terminaland the second terminal.

In an embodiment, the message transmitted by the second terminal is aterminal capability set message.

In an embodiment, the first codec or the second codec is one of anadaptive multi-rate codec, an H.263 codec, an H.264 codec, adaptivemulti-rate wideband codec, accelerated control/negotiation protocol or amoving picture experts group four visual codec.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method fortransmitting data wherein the data is audio signals and/or video signalsis provided. The method has the step of providing a network thatconnects a first terminal and a second terminal wherein the firstterminal and the second terminal communicate via the network wherein thesecond terminal is located remotely with respect to the first terminal.Further, the method has the step of establishing a connection between afirst terminal and a second terminal over the network wherein a firstchannel is opened between the first terminal and the second terminal viathe connection wherein the data is transmittable between the firstterminal and the second terminal via the first channel over the networkwherein the first channel is opened without identifying codeccapabilities of the first terminal and the second terminal. Stillfurther, the method has the step of transmitting data from the firstterminal to the second terminal via the first channel wherein the datais transmitted in a first codec without exchanging the codeccapabilities of the second terminal wherein the first codec is selectedfrom a plurality of codecs by the first terminal wherein the first codeccorresponds to the codec capabilities of the first terminal. Moreover,the method has the step of displaying the data in the first codec viathe second terminal without exchanging codec capabilities of the firstterminal or the second terminal wherein the first codec corresponds tothe codec capabilities of the second terminal wherein the secondterminal communicates a transmission to the first terminal via theconnection.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of transmitting a message fromthe second terminal to the first terminal via the transmission whereinthe message identifies the codec capabilities of the second terminal.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of identifying a second codecfor transmitting the data via the transmission from the second terminalwherein the first terminal transmits the data in the second codec to thesecond terminal.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of opening a second channelbetween the first terminal and the second terminal via the connectionwherein the second channel corresponds to the codec capabilities of thefirst terminal and the second terminal.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of transmitting the data in asecond codec from the first terminal to the second terminal wherein thesecond codec corresponds to the codec capabilities of the first terminaland the second terminal.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of replacing the first channelwith a second channel between the first terminal and the second terminalwherein the second channel corresponds to the codec capabilities of thefirst terminal and the second terminal.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of transmitting a standardstuffing sequence with a header or without a header to the firstterminal via the transmission from the second terminal wherein the firstterminal identifies the codec capabilities of the second terminal fromthe transmission.

In an embodiment, the network is wireless.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a method fortransmitting data in a first codec or in a second codec wherein the datais an audio signal and/or a video signal wherein the first codec or thesecond codec is selected from a plurality of codecs is provided. Themethod has the step of providing a network which connects a firstterminal and a second terminal wherein the second terminal is locatedremotely with respect to the first terminal wherein the first terminaland the second terminal communicate via the network. Further, the methodhas the step of assigning a code to each codec of the plurality ofcodecs wherein the code assigned to the first codec is different thanthe code assigned to the second codec wherein each codec of theplurality of codecs corresponds to codec capabilities of the firstterminal. Still further, the method has the step of selecting the firstcodec from the plurality of codecs without an exchange of the codeccapabilities of the first terminal and the second terminal wherein thefirst codec corresponds to the codec capabilities of the first terminalwherein the first terminal selects the first codec by identifying thecode assigned to the first codec. Moreover, the method has the step oftransmitting the data in the first codec from the first terminal to thesecond terminal via a first channel over the network wherein the firstchannel is opened between the first terminal and the second terminalwithout the exchange of the codec capabilities of the second terminal.Furthermore, the method has the step of transmitting a communicationfrom the second terminal to the first terminal via the network whereinthe codec capabilities of the second terminal are determinable by thefirst terminal via the communication from the second terminal.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of transmitting a message fromthe second terminal to the first terminal via the communication whereinthe message identifies the codec capabilities of the second terminal.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of transmitting the data inthe second codec from the first terminal to the second terminal whereinthe second codec corresponds to the codec capabilities of the secondterminal.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of opening a second channelbetween the first terminal and the second terminal via the networkwherein the first terminal transmits the data in the second codec to thesecond terminal via the second channel.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of selecting the second codecfrom the plurality of codecs wherein the second codec corresponds to thecodec capabilities of the first terminal and the second terminal andfurther wherein the first terminal selects the second codec byidentifying the code assigned to the second codec.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of opening a second channelbetween the first terminal and the second terminal via the networkwherein the second channel corresponds to the codec capabilities of thefirst terminal and the second terminal.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of transmitting a terminalcapability message and a master/slave determination message from thesecond terminal to the first terminal via the communication wherein thefirst terminal identifies the codec capabilities of the second terminalvia the communication.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of switching from the data inthe first codec to the data in the second codec wherein the firstterminal transmits the data in the second codec to the second terminalvia the network.

In an embodiment, the method has the step of arranging the plurality ofcodecs into a chart wherein the chart is accessible by the firstterminal and the second terminal wherein the first codec is selected bythe code assigned to the first codec or the second codec.

It is, therefore, an advantage of the present invention to provide asystem and a method for transmitting data which may provide a firstterminal for transmitting the data to a second terminal withoutreceiving capabilities and/or intentions from the second terminal.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a system and amethod for transmitting data which may transmit data between one or more3G-324M protocol enabled mobile devices.

And, another advantage of the present invention is to provide a systemand a method for transmitting data which may provide an abstract syntaxnotation one message to relay a codec capability and/or a codecpreference of a first terminal to a second terminal.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide a systemand a method for transmitting data which may utilize indices of apredefined table to indicate a codec capability and/or a codecpreference of a first terminal to a second terminal.

A further advantage of the present invention is to provide a system anda method for transmitting data which may embed capability structures ofcontrol protocol into a message to indicate a codec capability and/or acodec preference of a first terminal to a second terminal.

Moreover, an advantage of the present invention is to provide a systemand a method for transmitting data which may determine a codec fortransmitting the data from a first terminal to a second terminal withoutknowledge of the codec capabilities of the second terminal.

And, another advantage of the present invention is to provide a systemand a method for transmitting data which may utilize a terminalcapability set and/or a master/slave determination to determine a secondcodec to be used in cases where the first codec assumption proves to beinappropriate for data transmission between the first terminal and thesecond terminal.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide a systemand a method for transmitting data which may send and/or may transmitthe data from a first terminal to a second terminal without completing aH.245 logical channel negotiation between the first terminal and thesecond terminal.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a system and amethod for transmitting data which may utilize standard H.245negotiation, improved H.245 negotiation methods, such as, for example,WNSRP and/or other enhanced channel negotiation methods to determine asecond codec to be used in cases where the first codec assumption provesto be inappropriate for data transmission between the first terminal andthe second terminal.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide a systemand a method for transmitting data which may transmit the data in amessage sent from a first terminal to a second terminal.

A still further advantage of the present invention is to provide asystem and a method for transmitting data which may utilize one or morechannels to transfer, to transmit and/or to send the data from a firstterminal to a second terminal.

Moreover, an advantage of the present invention is to provide a systemand a method for transmitting data which may determine a codec of thedata that may be acceptable by a first terminal and/or a secondterminal.

And, another advantage of the present invention is to provide a systemand a method for transmitting data which may send and/or may transmitcodec capabilities and/or intentions of a first terminal to a secondterminal to indicate the acceptability of a codec of the first terminal.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide a systemand a method for transmitting data which may transmit, may send and/ormay transfer the data from a first terminal to a second terminal uponestablishment of a bearer.

Moreover, an advantage of the present invention is to provide a systemand a method for transmitting data which may provide a first terminaland/or a second terminal to support one or more of the following: anadaptive multi-rate codec, an adaptive multi-rate wide-band codec, anadaptive multi-rate wide-band plus codec, an H.263 codec, an H.264codec, a moving picture experts group four visual codec.

And, another advantage of the present invention is to provide a systemand a method for transmitting data which may provide a first terminal toswitch from a first codec of the data to a second codec of the data fortransmitting the data to a second terminal.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide a systemand a method for transmitting data which may provide a first terminal todetermine a codec capability of a second terminal for transmitting, forsending and/or for transferring the data to the second terminal.

Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a system and amethod for transmitting data which may provide a call setup fortransferring the data to a legacy terminal.

Additional features and advantages of the present invention aredescribed in, and will be apparent from, the detailed description of thepresently preferred embodiments and from the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an information exchange used by a system in anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A illustrates a time-line for transmission of data in anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2B illustrates a time-line for transmission of data in anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a transmission of data in an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a table of codecs for a system in an embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to a system and a method for transmittingdata between a first terminal and a second terminal via a connectionwhich may consist of one or more channels. The first terminal and thesecond terminal may communicate and/or may be connected via theconnection. A bearer establishment of the connection may be identifiedby the first terminal and/or the second terminal. The data in a firstcodec may be transmitted, may be transferred, may be sent from the firstterminal to the second terminal without an exchange of codeccapabilities and/or codec preferences of the second terminal between thefirst terminal and the second terminal. The second terminal may becapable of receiving, of accepting, of processing, and/or of displayingthe data in the first codec. As a result, the second terminal mayutilize the data upon receiving the data. Alternately, the secondterminal may be incapable of receiving, of accepting, of processingand/or of displaying the data in the first codec. The first terminal mayidentify a second codec which may be acceptable by the second terminal.The first terminal may use capability information and preferenceinformation sent from the second terminal to the first terminal todetermine the second codec. The first terminal may alter and/or maychange transmission to switch from the first codec to the second codec.The first terminal may transmit, may transfer and/or may send the datain the second codec to the second terminal via the connection. As aresult, the second terminal may accept, may receive, may process, maydisplay and/or may disseminate the data in the second codec.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts,FIG. 1 illustrates system 10 which may have a first terminal 12 a and asecond terminal 12 b for transferring data. The data may be, forexample, an audio signal, a video signal, an accelerated callnegotiation protocol, a data stream and/or the like. The first terminal12 a may be connected to and/or may be in communication with the secondterminal 12 b. The first terminal 12 a and/or the second terminal 12 bmay be, for example, a computer terminal, a mobile device and/or anelectronic device which may be capable of transmitting, of receiving, ofprocessing, of accepting and/or of displaying the data formatted in acodec. Further, the mobile device may be, for example, a 3G mobiledevice, an internet protocol (hereinafter “IP”) video cellulartelephone, a PDA, a laptop computer and/or the like. It should beunderstood that the first terminal 12 a and/or the second terminal 12 bmay be any terminal capable of transmitting, capable of receiving and/orcapable of processing the data in the codec known to one having ordinaryskill in the art.

The first terminal 12 a and/or the second terminal 12 b may conductand/or may transmit a video conference and/or an audio-visualcommunication on a data communication network 16 (hereinafter, “thenetwork 16”) via a transmission protocol, such as, for example, an H.320protocol, an H.323 protocol, an H.324 protocol and/or a 3G-324Mprotocol. The first terminal 12 a and/or the second terminal 12 b maytransmit, may deliver, may receive and/or may process acontrol/transmission message 30 in a control protocol, such as, forexample, an H.245 protocol over the network 16. The network 16 may haveone or more channels connecting the terminals 12 a, 12 b. The data, thevideo signal, the audio signal, the accelerated call negotiationprotocol stream and/or the data stream may be transited between theterminals 12 a, 12 b via one or more channels of the network 16.

The control/transmission message 30 may open and/or may close one ormore logical channels for the audio signal, the video signal, theaccelerated call negotiation protocol stream and/or the data stream. Thecontrol/transmission message 30 may indicate one or more codeccapabilities, codec preferences and/or intentions of the first terminal12 a and/or the second terminal 12 b. The first terminal 12 a and/or thesecond terminal 12 b may utilize a retransmission protocol, for example,a WNSRP protocol for delivering and/or for accepting thecontrol/transmission messages 30 over the network 16. The retransmissionprotocol may permit more than one control/transmission message 30 to bedelivered to the first terminal 12 a or the second terminal 12 b withoutan acknowledgment of the control/transmission message from the firstterminal 12 a or the second terminal 12 b, respectively. It should beunderstood that the first terminal 12 a and/or the second terminal 12 bmay be any terminal capable of transmitting, capable of receiving and/orcapable of processing the control/transmission messages 30 in thecontrol protocol known to one having ordinary skill in the art.

The first terminal 12 a and/or the second terminal 12 b of the system 10may represent, may transmit, may encode and/or may decode the dataand/or information in an abstract syntax, such as, for example, anabstract syntax notation one (hereinafter “ASN.1”). The data and/orinformation in the control/transmission message 30 may be representedin, may be transmitted in, may be encoded with, and/or may be decodedwith the abstract syntax. The first terminal 12 a and/or the secondterminal 12 b may utilize the control/transmission message 30 in theabstract syntax to relay the codec capabilities and/or the codecpreferences of first terminal 12 a and/or the second terminal 12 b.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the terminals 12 a, 12 b in system 10 maybegin to transmit data upon establishment of the bearer, withoutcompleting a separate capabilities stage and/or intent stage. The datatransmission may begin before, may begin after, or may beginconcurrently with the transmission of capabilities and intentinformation.

As illustrated in a table in FIG. 4, the terminals 12 a, 12 b in system10 may utilize one or more indices of a predefined table to representthe codec capability and/or the codec preference and/or other codec andmultiplex configuration information to be used when transferring databetween terminals 12 a, 12 b. The use of the predefined tableinformation may postpone or eliminate the requirement of receivingcapability information, preference information and/or configurationinformation via the control/transmission messages 30. Each codecrepresented in the table in FIG. 4 may have, for example, acorresponding logical channel number, a multiplexing code and/or amultiplex table entry. Each codec in the table in FIG. 4 may correspondto and/or may be assigned a coding standard, such as, for example, anH.245 control standard, an H.263 standard, an H.264 standard, movingpicture experts group four (hereinafter “MPEG-4”) standard, an adaptivemulti-rate (hereinafter “AMR”) standard, an AMR wide-band (hereinafter“AMR-WB”) standard and/or an accelerated call negotiation protocolstandard. As illustrated in the table in FIG. 4, the H.245 controlcodec, the AMR codec, the H.263 codec, the MPEG-4 codec, the H.264codec, the AMR-WB and the accelerated call negotiation protocol standardmay have corresponding multiplex table entries of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and6, respectively. Each codec in the table in FIG. 4 may be utilized bysystem 10 to establish a pre-defined, pre-negotiated phantom channel(hereinafter “phantom channel”) for transmitting the data between theterminals 12 a, 12 b.

The codecs in the table in FIG. 4 may have associated codecconfiguration information and/or H.223 configuration information. Thecodec configuration of the AMR codec may have, for example, a max bitrate of 12.2 kbit/s. The codec configuration of the AMR codec may have,for example, a max AL-SDU-Frames equal of one. The H.223 configurationof the AMR code, for example, an adaptation layer type with sequencenumbers. The H.223 configuration may be, for example, non-segmentable.

The codec configuration of the H.263 codec may support, for example, aQuarter Common Intermediate Format (hereinafter “QCIF”). The codecconfiguration of the H.263 codec may have, for example, a QCIF MinimumPicture Interval (hereinafter “MPI”) of two which may be expressed inunits of 1/30 sec. Additionally, the codec configuration of the H.263codec may have, for example, a maximum bit rate of sixty-four kbits/s.Further, the codec configuration of the H.263 codec may have, forexample, parameters for unrestricted vector, arithmetic coding, advancedprediction, pb frames and/or temporal spatial tradeoff capability equalto false. The codec configuration of the H.263 codec may conform toH.263 baseline.

The codec configuration of the MPEG-4 codec may support, for example,the QCIF. The codec configuration of the MPEG-4 codec may have, forexample, a max bite rate of sixty-four kbits/s. Further, the codecconfiguration of the MPEG-4 codec may have, for example, a profile andlevel indication set to eight. Still further, the codec configuration ofthe MPEG-4 codec may have, for example, an object id set to one.Moreover, the codec configuration of the MPEG-4 codec may have, forexample, decoder configuration information as follows:“00-00-01-b0-00-00-01-b5-09-00-00-01-20-00-84-5d-4c-28-2c-20-90-a2-8f”.The H.223 configuration of the MPEG-4 codec may have, for example,control field octets set to two. Further, the H.223 configuration of theMPEG-4 codec may have, for example, a send buffer size of one-thousandand twenty-four.

The H.223 configuration of the H.264 codec may have, for example,control field octets set to two. Further, the H.223 configuration of theH.264 codec may have, for example, a send buffer size of 1024.

The H.223 configuration of the AMR-WB codec may have, for example, anadaptation layer type of AL2 with sequence numbers. The H.223configuration of the AMR-WB codec may be, for example, non-segmentable.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the first terminal 12 a and/or the secondterminal 12 b may communicate via the control/transmission message 30over the network 16 using one or more channels. The control message 30may contain the codec capability, the codec preference and/or theintention of the first terminal 12 a and/or the second terminal 12 b.The control/transmission message 30 may contain capabilities of theterminals 12 a, 12 b, intent of the terminals 12 a, 12 b and/or the dataand/or media between the terminals 12 a, 12 b. The control/transmissionmessage 30 may contain the data and/or the media which may be formattedand/or may be coded in the first codec.

The control/transmission message 30 may be transmitted and/or may besent from the first terminal 12 a to the second terminal 12 b. Thesecond terminal 12 b may receive, may accept and/or may process thecontrol/transmission message 30. The control/transmission message 30 mayindicate the codec capability of the first terminal 12 a, the codecpreference of the first terminal 12 a, the intention of the firstterminal 12 a and/or the first codec of the data and/or the media sentfrom the first terminal 12 a to the second terminal 12 b. The secondfirst terminal 12 a may determine whether the first codec of the dataand/or the media may be acceptable by the second terminal 12 b viareceipt of the control/transmission message 30 sent from the secondterminal 12 b to the first terminal 12 a. The second terminal 12 b mayreceive, may accept, may process and/or may display the data and/or themedia in the first codec which may be an acceptable codec and/or may bea preferred codec of the second terminal 12 b. As a result, the callsetup time for transmitting the data and/or the media between theterminals 12 a, 12 b may be minimized by allowing the data and/or themedia to be transmitted upon bearer establishment without waiting for anexchange of capabilities and/or of intents between the terminals 12 a,12 b.

The second terminal 12 b may be incapable of processing, of receiving,of accepting and/or of dissimilating the first codec of the data and/orthe media in the control/transmission message 30. The second terminal 12b may transmit the codec capability, the codec preference and/or theintent of the second terminal 12 b to the first terminal 12 a via thecontrol/transmission message 30. Further, the second terminal 12 b maytransmit the data and/or the media to the first terminal 12 a via thecontrol/transmission message 30. The control/transmission message 30 mayindicate to the first terminal 12 a which codec in the table in FIG. 4may be acceptable by and/or may be preferred by the second terminal 12 bto transmit the data and/or the media between the terminals 12 a, 12 b.The first terminal may determine a second codec which may be acceptableby and/or may be preferred by the second terminal 12 b. The firstterminal 12 a may format, may negotiate and/or may switch the dataand/or the media from the first codec to the second codec fortransmitting the data and/or the media between the terminals 12 a, 12 b.The first terminal 12 a may transmit the data and/or the media in thesecond codec to the second terminal 12 b. The second terminal 12 b mayreceive, may accept, may process and/or may display the data and/or themedia in the second codec. As a result, a fallback negotiation betweenthe terminals 12 a, 12 b may allow the data and/or the media to betransmitted between the terminals 12 a, 12 b with only a half of roundtrip nominal delay between the terminals 12 a, 12 b.

The terminals 12 a, 12 b may transmit and/or may send the data and/orthe media upon establishment of the bearer by selecting one or moredefault options based on the media to be transmitted between theterminals 12 a, 12 b. One or more of the default options may be definedfor the codecs, the codec configurations, channel configurations, andthe multiplex table entries. The terminals 12 a, 12 b may utilize one ormore default options to achieve an audio-visual exchange and/or theteleconferencing.

The data and/or the media which may be transferred between the terminals12 a, 12 b without an H.245 channel negotiation may be transferredbetween the terminals 12 a, 12 b via at least one phantom channel of thenetwork 16. The phantom channel may be established and/or may bedetected by the second terminal 12 b which may be receiving the dataand/or the media from the first terminal 12 a. The phantom channel mayterminate upon an establishment of an H.245-negotiated logical channelof the same data and/or media type. The phantom channels may establish aflow of data and/or media between the terminals 12 a, 12 b which maycontinue to flow during a normal H.245 call negotiation or a callnegotiation using accelerated means.

The terminals 12 a, 12 b may establish at least one phantom channel andmay proceed through the H.245 call setup or through another acceleratedcall setup procedure. Each phantom channel may be replaced by anestablished audio logical channel, visual logical channel and/or datalogical channel between the terminals 12 a, 12 b. Alternatively, thesystem 10 may maintain the phantom channel and/or a logical channelbetween the terminals 12 a, 12 b. As a result, the system 10 may avoidthe H.245 logical channel negotiation between the terminals 12 a, 12 b.The second terminal 12 b may not support the first codec of the dataand/or the media. As a result, the transmission of the data and/or themedia in the first codec from the first terminal 12 a to the secondterminal 12 b via at least one phantom channel may not be executed.

Standard stuffing blocks may be interleaved with the data in thecontrol/transmission message 30 for transmitting from the first terminal12 a to the second terminal 12 b via the phantom channel. As a result, alegacy terminal may synchronize with the standard stuffing blocks and/ormay discard the data and/or the media in the first codec. The firstterminal 12 a may recognize that the second terminal 12 b may notsupport the first codec, may terminate transmission of the data and/orthe media in the first codec and/or may transmit legacy signaling to thesecond terminal 12 b.

Capability information based on the first codec of the data may be addedto a H.245 TCS message which may signal to the terminals 12 a, 12 b thata codec may be supported by the first terminal 12 a and/or the secondterminal 12 b. The capability information may indicate to the firstterminal that the second terminal 12 b may support the data and/or themedia in the first codec received from the first terminal 12 a via atleast one phantom channel. Alternatively, the capability information mayindicate that the first terminal 12 a may be required to switch from thefirst codec to a second codec to establish successful data communicationbetween the terminals 12 a, 12 b. In such a case, the first terminal 12a may choose a second codec from the table in FIG. 4 or a similar tableof defaults, and so may establish a new Phantom Channel using the secondcodec. Alternately, the first terminal 12 a may choose to negotiateand/or establish an H.245 open logical channel (hereinafter “OLC”) usingthe second codec. Negotiation of the H.245 OLC may utilize WNSRPprotocol and/or other accelerated call negotiation techniques which mayprovide speed advantages over basic H.245 OLC negotiation.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a time-line for connection of the terminals12 a, 12 b via a video phantom channel 32 and/or a audio phantom channel34. The first terminal 12 a may begin sending and/or may begintransmitting the data and/or the media which may be interleaved with thestandard stuffing block at bearer establishment at point A in FIGS. 2Aand 2B. The video phantom channel 32 and/or the audio phantom channel 34may be acceptable to the second terminal 12 b. As a result, the videophantom channel 32 and/or the audio phantom channel 34 between theterminals 12 a, 12 b may be established to transmit the data and/or themedia to the second terminal 12 b. A level setup between the terminals12 a, 12 b may be completed and/or may be executed at point B in FIGS.2A and 2B. The TCS and/or the MSD between the terminals 12 a, 12 b maybe completed and/or may be executed at point C in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

The video phantom channel 32 and/or the audio phantom channel may beutilized for transmitting the data from the first terminal 12 a to thesecond terminal 12 b until the second terminal 12 b may execute, maycomplete and/or may negotiate the H.245 OLC at point D in FIGS. 2A and2B. As a result, the video phantom channel 32 and/or the audio phantomchannel 34 may be replaced with a negotiated video signal 36 and/or anegotiated audio signal 38 at point D as illustrated in FIG. 2A.Alternatively, the second terminal 12 b may not execute and/or may notnegotiate the H.245 OLC. As a result, the video phantom channel 32and/or the audio phantom channel 34 may transmit the data and/or themedia from the first terminal 12 a to the second terminal 12 b during asession of transmission between the terminals 12 a, 12 b as illustratedin FIG. 2B.

The terminals 12 a, 12 b may support the first codec and/or may begintransmission of the data and/or the media in the first codec via, forexample, a Level 2 transmission or a Level 2 transmission with optionalheader. The first terminal 12 a and/or the second terminal 12 b may becapable of receiving the Level 2 transmission and/or the Level 2transmission with optional header. The first terminal 12 a and/or thesecond terminal 12 b may not be capable of receiving the Level 2transmission with optional header. As a result, the first terminal 12 aand/or the second terminal 12 b may terminate the Level 2 transmissionwith optional header. The terminals 12 a, 12 b may be capable to parsean audio/video (hereinafter “A/V”) multiplexing (hereinafter “Mux”)protocol data unit (hereinafter “PDU”) to remove the optional headerfrom the Level 2 transmission.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the first terminal 12 a which may support thefirst codec may transmit A/V Mux PDU's 40 to the second terminal 12 b. Apattern of stuffing 39 may be interleaved with A/V Mux PDU's 40 in thetransmission from the first terminal 12 a to the second terminal 12 b.The pattern of stuffing may have standard stuffing 42 and/or FM stuffing44. The standard stuffing 42 may be a stuffing sequence for the Level 2transmission and/or the Level 2 transmission with optional header. Aminimum of twenty consecutive standard stuffing sequences may betransmitted from the first terminal 12 a to the second terminal 12 b.The FM stuffing 44 may replace the Mux Code with a value correspondingto at least one phantom channel 32, 34 with a pattern such as, forexample, [A] 46, [V], 48, [A], 46 [V], 48. A minimum of four consecutiveFM stuffing may be sequenced and/or may be transmitted from the firstterminal 12 a to the second terminal 12 b. The A/V Mux PDU's 40 may bethe data and/or the media which may be transmitted from the firstterminal 12 a to the second terminal 12 b via the phantom channels 32,34. The A/V Mux PDU's 40 may be transmitted via the Level 2 transmissionand/or the Level 2 transmission with optional header. An initialrepetition rate may be a duration of time between stuffing blocks andmay not be more than, for example, two-hundred mS. A level setup may becompleted and/or may be executed via the phantom channels 32, 34 whichmay be detected by the second terminal 12 b. As a result, the firstterminal 12 a may terminate a transmission of a regular stuffing blockand/or may initiate a transmission of a mixture of A/V Mux PDU 40 fromthe phantom channels 32, 34 and/or from the H.245 OLC.

The first terminal 12 a may be operating in accordance with the defaultoptions as set forth above. After the phantom channels 32, may beestablished between the first terminal 12 a and the second terminal 12b, the first terminal 12 a may utilize and/or may select H.245 OLCprocedures or other accelerated call negotiation procedures to establishregular channels between the first terminal 12 a and the second terminal12 b. As a result, the phantom channels 32, 34 may be terminated by thefirst terminal 12 a. To allow for an unambiguous transition by thesecond terminal 12 b, the first terminal 12 a may establishH.245-negotiated logical channel numbers and/or a multiplex table whichmay not conflict with the logical channel numbers and multiplex tableentries being utilized by active phantom channels 32, 34. The firstterminal 12 a may reserve one multiplex table entry for each activephantom channel 32, 34. After the regular channels between the firstterminal 12 a and the second terminal 12 b are established, the firstterminal 12 a may update an Mux table with a regular H.245 MESprocedure, thus utilizing the previously reserved table entries.

The first terminal 12 a may transmit the data and/or the media in thefirst codec before a receipt of the codec capability of the secondterminal 12 b. The second terminal 12 b may not be capable to receive,to accept, to process and/or to dissimilate the data and/or the media inthe first codec. As a result, the first terminal 12 a may be required toswitch, to change and/or to negotiate from a first codec to a secondcodec which may be acceptable and/or may be supported by the secondterminal 12 b. The second codec may be based on the codec capabilitywhich may be indicated in the control/transmission message 30.

The first terminal 12 a may be capable to detect whether the data and/orthe media in the first codec may be transmitting from the secondterminal 12 b to the first terminal 12 a. The first terminal 12 a maydetect the FM stuffing sequences and/or the A/V Mux-PDU 40 of thephantom channels 32, 34 to determine whether the second terminal 12 bmay be transmitting the data and/or the media in the first codec. One ormore synchronization techniques, such as, for example, a correlationsearch on incoming stuffing patterns may be used to determine whetherthe second terminal 12 b may be transmitted the media in the firstcodec. After the phantom channels 32, 34 are detected, the firstterminal 12 a may begin to decode, to process and/or to display the dataand/or the media in the first codec.

The second terminal 12 b which may or may not accept the data and/or themedia in the first codec may transmit a codec capability object in anH.245 TCS message. The codec capability object may indicate which codecsin the table in FIG. 4 are acceptable by the second terminal 12 b. Thefirst terminal 12 a may utilize this information and/or otherinformation to determine that the second terminal 12 b may be incapableof processing and/or may not support the first codec of the data and/orthe media. As a result, the first terminal 12 a may terminate atransmission of the phantom channel or channels 32, 34 and/or may revertto an H.245 OLC negotiation. The first terminal 12 a may receive theH.245 TCS message without codec capability object and/or withoutdetecting the FM stuffing sequence 44 which may indicate to the firstterminal 12 a that the second terminal 12 b may not support the firstcodec, and/or may not support the establishment of phantom channels. Thefirst terminal 12 a may transmit the H.245 TCS message with the codeccapability object to indicate to the second terminal 12 b whether thefirst codec may be supported and/or which codecs in the table of FIG. 4may be acceptable by the first terminal 12 a.

The system 10 may be compatible with a legacy terminal (not shown in thedrawings) which may not support the establishment of phantom channels.The regular stuffing component to the stuffing block may be detectableby the legacy terminal which may be supporting an identical H.223 mode,such as, for example, Level 2 or Level 2 with optional header. Thelegacy terminal may detect the stuffing pattern and/or may transmit asame level transmission to the first terminal 12 a. As a result, thefirst terminal 12 a may detect the level match received from the legacyterminal and/or may proceed to execute the H.245 OLC negotiation. Thelegacy terminal may transmit a higher level transmission to the firstterminal 12 a. As a result, the first terminal 12 a may detect thehigher level transmission, may send stuffing at the higher leveltransmission, and/or may proceed to execute the H.245 OLC negotiation.The legacy terminal may transmit a lower level transmission and/or maywait for the first terminal 12 a to adjust to a level acceptable by thelegacy terminal.

The legacy terminal may not recognize the regular stuffing of the dataand/or the media in the first codec transmitted from the first terminal12 a. The first terminal 12 a may detect that the legacy terminal whichmay not support the first codec. The first terminal 12 a may terminate atransmission of the phantom channels 32, 34 and/or may revert to thesignaling which may be supported and/or may be accepted by the legacyterminal. Detection of incoming stuffing below Level 2 by the firstterminal 12 a may indicate that the legacy terminal may not support thefirst codec. The first terminal 12 a may terminate transmission of theA/V signals and/or may switch to the lower level transmission fortransmitting the data and/or the media to the legacy terminal.

To further illustrate the communication which may be possible under thepresent invention, we now present several examples of communicationsessions which might occur between two suitable terminals 12 a and 12 b.

In a first example, the first terminal 12 a may transmit an audio signaland/or a video signal which may be coded in, for example, the AMR codecand/or the MPEG-4 codec, respectively. The second terminal 12 b maysupport receipt of, for example, the AMR codec and/or the MPEG-4 codec.As a result, an audio channel and/or a video channel transmitting theaudio signal and/or the video signal to the second terminal 12 b may beestablished.

In a second example, the first terminal 12 a may transmit an audiosignal and/or a video signal which may be coded in, for example, the AMRcodec and/or the H.264 codec, respectively. The second terminal 12 b maysupport the AMR codec of the audio signal but may be incapable ofsupporting the H.264 codec for the video signal. As a result, the audiochannel transmitting the audio signal to the second terminal 12 b may beestablished. The video channel for transmitting the video signal mayhave to be negotiated because the second terminal may be incapable tosupport the H.264 codec. If the second terminal 12 b supports the MPEG-4codec, a half round trip delay may occur as the first terminal 12 a mayreceive the incoming TCS message from the second terminal 12 b, and mayswitch the outgoing video signal from the H.264 codec to the MPEG-4codec. Due to this negotiation, a half round trip delay to establishvideo transmission may occur in a video direction from the firstterminal 12 a to the second terminal 12 b. Video transmission in theopposite direction may have been established immediately, without such adelay.

In the third example, the first terminal 12 a may transmit the dataand/or the media with Level 2 with optional header for stuffing and thesecond terminal 12 b may transmit the data and/or the media with Level 2without optional header. The first terminal 12 a and the second terminal12 b may be required to parse the initial A/V PDU's regardless ofwhether the optional header may included. In this way, video phantomchannel 32 and/or the audio phantom channel 34 may be established inboth directions between the first terminal 12 a and the second terminal12 b. Upon receipt of control/transmission messages 30 from the secondterminal 12 b, the first terminal 12 a may discover that the secondterminal 12 b does not wish to use level 2 with optional header, and sothe first terminal 12 a may modify its transmission to remove theoptional header.

In the fourth example, the first terminal 12 a may transmit an audiosignal and/or a video signal which may be coded in, for example, the AMRcodec and/or the MPEG-4 codec, respectively. The second terminal 12 bmay support receipt of, for example, the AMR codec and/or the MPEG-4codec. As a result, an audio phantom channel 32 and/or a video phantomchannel 34 transmitting the audio signal and/or the video signal to thesecond terminal 12 b may be established. The first terminal 12 a maythen choose to replace the video phantom channel 32 and/or the audiophantom channel 34 using an H.245 OLC negotiation message. As a result,a negotiated H.245 OLC may replace the video phantom channel 32 and/orthe audio phantom channel 34. Such negotiation is not limited inprinciple to H.245, and so other improved techniques may be used tonegotiate the replacement channels.

In the fifth example, the second terminal 12 b may begin transmission ofthe data and/or the media to the first terminal 12 a using phantomchannels. The first terminal 12 a may be a legacy terminal which may notsupport the establishment of phantom channels. The first terminal 12 amay send and/or may transmit the TCS and/or the MSD to the secondterminal 12 b without synchronizing with the second terminal 12 b. Thesecond terminal 12 b may determine that the first terminal 12 a may notsupport the establishment of phantom channels, and may make thisdetermination within a half round trip. As a result, the second terminal12 b may terminate a transmission of the data and/or the media in thephantom channels. The terminals 12 a, 12 b may exchange the TCS and/orthe MSD and/or may proceed using the standard H.245 OLC negotiation. Theretransmission protocol WNSRP and/or other enhanced call setupmechanisms may be used in this negotiation. As a result, the negotiatedH.245 OLC's may be established between the terminals 12 a, 12 b.

In the sixth example, the first terminal 12 a may transmit anaccelerated call negotiation protocol stream to the second terminal 12b. The second terminal 12 b may support the receipt of this acceleratedcall negotiation protocol stream and may indicate such support in thecontrol/transmission message 30 sent from the second terminal 12 b tothe first terminal 12 a. Upon receiving the control/transmission message30, the first terminal 12 a may determine that the second terminal 12 baccepts, of processes and/or of uses the accelerated call negotiationprotocol stream to negotiate media codecs. In this way, both terminals12 a and 12 b may drop other initial media transmissions and/or may relyinstead on the accelerated call control negotiation protocol forestablishment of the initial media channels.

Note that for readability, the description and examples above focused onthe flow of media or other data primarily in one direction, for examplefrom the first terminal 12 a to the second terminal 12 b. It should beunderstood that the concepts, messages, and data flow may be applied inboth directions, and that bi-directional data flow is a typicalapplication of the ideas presented here.

It should be understood that various changes and modifications to thepresently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent tothose skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention andwithout diminishing its attendant advantages. It is, therefore, intendedthat such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.

1. A system for transmitting data which is at least one of audiosignals, video signals and other data signals, the system comprising: afirst terminal connected to a network wherein the first terminal hasdata encoding capabilities; a second terminal connected to the networkwherein the second terminal is remote with respect to the first terminaland further wherein the second terminal has data decoding capabilities;a first codec for encoding the data wherein the first terminal selectsthe first codec based on the encoding capabilities of the first terminaland further wherein the first terminal encodes the data in the firstcodec to produce first encoded data wherein the first terminal transmitsthe first encoded data to the second terminal using the network andfurther wherein the second terminal receives the first encoded data anddetermines whether the first encoded data matches the decodingcapabilities of the second terminal wherein the second terminal decodesthe first encoded data if the first encoded data matches the decodingcapabilities of the second terminal and further wherein the secondterminal does not decode the first encoded data if the first encodeddata does not match the decoding capabilities of the second terminal; acapability description message having the decoding capabilities of thesecond terminal wherein the capability description message indicates tothe first terminal that the second terminal supports the data and themedia in the first codec received from the first terminal via a phantomchannel wherein the second terminal transmits the capability descriptionmessage to the first terminal using the network and further wherein thefirst terminal initiates transmission of the first encoded data beforereceiving the capability description message; and a predefined digitaltable accessible to the first terminal and the second terminal prior tocommunication between the first terminal and the second terminal whereinthe predefined digital table has a list of entries and further whereinthe entries have an index, a codec, and a configuration descriptionwherein the first terminal identifies the codec and the configurationdescription associated with the first encoded data by transmitting acorresponding index from the predefined digital table with the firstencoded data transmitted to the second terminal.
 2. The system of claim1 further comprising: a second codec for encoding the data wherein thefirst terminal uses the capability description message to determine thatthe first encoded data does not match the decoding capabilities of thesecond terminal and further wherein the first terminal selects thesecond codec based on the capability description message wherein thefirst terminal discontinues transmission of the first encoded data andfurther wherein the first terminal encodes the data in the second codecto produce second encoded data wherein the first terminal transmits thesecond encoded data to the second terminal using the network.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein the first terminal discontinues transmissionof the first encoded data and negotiates data channels using H.245-basedsignaling in response to the first terminal determining that the secondterminal is a legacy terminal which requires data channels to benegotiated using H.245-based signaling.
 4. The system of claim 1 whereinthe first terminal and the second terminal are mobile telephones.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein the first terminal and the second terminalcommunicate using the H.324 video telephony standard.
 6. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the capability description message is an H.245 terminalcapability set message.
 7. The system of claim 1 wherein the secondterminal displays the decoded first encoded data to a user if the firstencoded data matches the decoding capabilities of the second terminal.8. The system of claim 1 wherein the capability description messageindicates the decoding capabilities of the second terminal using indicesfrom the predefined digital table.
 9. The system of claim 1 furthercomprising: a video telephony session in which the first terminal andthe second terminal participate wherein the first encoded datarepresents one of audio communication and video communication from thefirst terminal to the second terminal in the video telephony session.10. The system of claim 1 wherein the first encoded data is an H.245based protocol stream for negotiating audio and video channels.
 11. Amethod for transmitting data using a network that connects a firstterminal and a second terminal wherein the second terminal is remoterelative to the first terminal and further wherein the data at least oneof audio signals, video signals and other data signals, the methodcomprising the steps of: establishing a connection between the firstterminal and the second terminal over the network; transmitting dataencoded in a first codec from the first terminal to the second terminalusing the network; transmitting capability information having datadecoding capabilities of the second terminal wherein the capabilityinformation indicates the data decoding capabilities of the secondterminal using capability indices wherein the capability informationindicates to the first terminal that the second terminal supports thedata and the media in the first codec received from the first terminalvia a phantom channel and further wherein definitions of the capabilityindices are accessible to the first terminal and the second terminalprior to communication between the first terminal and the secondterminal wherein the definition of the capability indices associates thecapability index with a codec and a configuration description andfurther wherein one of the capability indices in the capabilityinformation indicates that the second terminal decodes data encodedusing the codec and the configuration description associated with theone of the capability indices wherein the second terminal transmits thecapability information to the first terminal using the network andfurther wherein the first terminal initiates transmission of the dataencoded in the first codec before receiving the capability informationfrom the second terminal; making a first determination of whether thedata encoded in the first codec matches the data decoding capabilitiesof the second terminal wherein the first terminal makes the firstdetermination based on the capability information from the secondterminal; and terminating transmission of the data encoded in the firstcodec if the first determination indicates that the data encoded in thefirst codec does not match the data decoding capabilities of the secondterminal.
 12. The method of claim 11 further comprising the steps of:making a second determination of whether the data encoded in the firstcodec matches the data decoding capabilities of the second terminalwherein the second terminal makes the second determination; anddisplaying the data encoded in the first codec wherein the secondterminal displays the data encoded in the first codec if the seconddetermination indicates that the data in the first codec matches thedata decoding capabilities of the second terminal.
 13. The method ofclaim 11 further comprising the steps of: transmitting the data encodedin a second codec from the first terminal to the second terminal usingthe network wherein the first terminal transmits the data encoded in thesecond codec if the first determination indicates that the data encodedin the first codec does not match the data decoding capabilities of thesecond terminal and further wherein the first terminal selects thesecond codec based on the capability information from the secondterminal; and displaying the data encoded in the second codec on thesecond terminal.
 14. The method of claim 11 wherein the capabilityinformation indicates the data decoding capabilities of the secondterminal using an ASN.1 encoded representation.
 15. The method of claim11 wherein the first terminal is a mobile telephone.
 16. The method ofclaim 11 wherein the data encoded in the first codec is transmitted fromthe first terminal to the second terminal using an H.324 logicalchannel.
 17. The method of claim 11 wherein the data encoded in thefirst codec is an ASN.1 based protocol stream for call negotiation. 18.A system for transmitting data using a network wherein the data is atleast one of audio signals, video signals and other data signals, thesystem comprising: a terminal connected to the network wherein theterminal has data decoding capabilities; a predefined digital tableaccessible to the terminal prior to the terminal receiving the firstencoded data wherein the predefined digital table entries and furtherwherein each entry has an index, a codec, and a configurationdescription; first encoded data which is a representation of the dataencoded using the codec and the configuration description correspondingto a first entry in the predefined digital table wherein the terminalreceives the first encoded data from the network and determines whetherthe first encoded data matches the decoding capabilities of the terminaland further wherein the terminal decodes the first encoded data if thefirst encoded data matches the decoding capabilities of the terminal;and a capability description message having the decoding capabilities ofthe terminal wherein the terminal transmits the capability descriptionmessage to the network before receiving the first encoded data andfurther wherein the capability description message indicates thedecoding capabilities of the terminal using indices from the predefineddigital table.
 19. The system of claim 18 further comprising: secondencoded data which is a representation of the data encoded using thecodec and configuration description corresponding to a second entry inthe predefined digital table wherein the second entry matches thedecoding capabilities of the terminal wherein the terminal receives thesecond encoded data from the network and further wherein the terminaldetermines that the second encoded data matches the decodingcapabilities of the terminal based on the predefined digital tablewherein the terminal decodes the second encoded data.
 20. The system ofclaim 18 wherein the terminal is a mobile telephone.
 21. The system ofclaim 18 wherein the data is at least one of audio signals and videosignals and further wherein the terminal displays the decoded firstencoded data to a user if the first encoded data matches the decodingcapabilities of the terminal.
 22. The system of claim 18 wherein thepredefined digital table has at least one entry corresponding to anaudio or video codec and at least one entry corresponding to encodeddata which is neither audio nor video data.
 23. The system of claim 18wherein transmission of the first encoded data received by the terminalhas the index of the first entry and further wherein the terminalidentifies the first encoded data based on the index.